Twin blasts claim 33 lives in Afghanistan

10 Jan 2017 - 22:23

Reuters

Kabul: A Taliban suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday killed more than 30 people and wounded some 70 others, as twin blasts hit a crowded area of the city during the afternoon rush hour.
Saleem Rasouli, a senior public health official, said 33 people had been killed and more than 70 wounded in the attack on the Darul Aman road, near an annex to the new Indian-financed parliament building.
He said most of the victims were parliamentary staff members.
On the same day, at least another 14 people were killed and dozens injured in separate incidents in the volatile southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
The Islamist militant Afghan Taliban movement, which immediately claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack, said its target had been a minibus carrying staff from the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan's main intelligence agency.
It put the casualties at more than 70 and said they were all members of the security forces.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a suicide bomber attacked the minibus in the Darul Aman area, and was followed almost immediately by a car bomber, who killed security forces attending the scene.